Senator presiding over Trump impeachment trial released from hospital
Democrats are expected to struggle to persuade 17 Republican senators -- the number needed for the required two-thirds majority -- to vote to convict Trump.
File picture: WASHINGTON, DC – NOVEMBER 20: Former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to the press in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House on November 20, 2020 in Washington, DC. Donald Trump held his first press conference in over a week to make an announcement on prescription drug prices as he continues to challenge the results of the 2020 Presidential election. Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images/AFP
The 80-year-old senator presiding over the impeachment trial of Donald Trump was briefly hospitalised Tuesday after sounding hoarse and unwell while being swore in.
Patrick Leahy, who was elected in 1974, is presiding over the trial as he is the senior senator of the party with the majority in the Senate, currently the Democrats.
“After getting test results back, and after a thorough examination, Senator Leahy now is home. He looks forward to getting back to work,” his spokesman said in a statement.
The 100 senators will serve as jurors in the trial in which former president Trump is accused of “incitement to insurrection” in the run-up to the violent storming of Congress by his supporters on January 6. The trial is due to open on February 9.
Democrats are expected to struggle to persuade 17 Republican senators — the number needed for the required two-thirds majority — to vote to convict Trump.
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